Contact brush and method of making same



May 31, 1927. 1,630,460

W. M. AUSTIN CONTACT BRUSH AND METHOD vMAKING SAME Filed oct. 2a, 1922 lINVENTOR WITN ESSES:

remise May si, 19217. y

WALTER M. AUsTiN," or sWIssviiLR,'irriimsrtvn'uiii Applicationfiiiefi,ccibea 28, 1922-. seriai'no. 5912539# "My invention reiates VVto.such electrical' .,-contact brushes as are employed in connecto improve electrical brushes.

vide-a Contact briishwhich has au inlier ,t tendency-to close itself 'and to prevent.

tion with circuit breakers and t'ojmethoils -.to making the same.

Oneobject o i y Another object of my invei'itionis to provr vide an improved method 'lorfcons'tructing such-c'ontact brushes. f y

. `Itis/also an .ob]ectv ofmy'inveiition to pro spreading between the ei/ids ot the several,

laminas.' v.

In* vContact f bru'shes, as lieretoiore constructed, .it has been-customaryjtoshape a large number of laminae one at a time or.

to Wind the 'lamination land-then cut in tivo to make tivo brushes. In such a contactbrush thereis a tendency `for the several laiiiinee to separate unless a strongspringis provided to holdrtheouter laniinations against laminae Vupon the release ot the bending .pres- A, comprisingstrips 1,-3, 5, 7, 9', A11, 13, '15, 7

the inner ones. V'This tendency 'ot theends of the laminee to separate, produc-es a poor electrical connection' when theV brush i'ace is brought against a stationary. Contact member.

By my invention, I propose to so shape the several laminee 'of my brush member that each lamina Will have an inherent tendency to exert inwardly directed pressure uponl its adjacent inner lamina. By this construction, I insure a good electrical Contact at the face of the brush by` reason of the tendency oit `the ends. of Vveach lamina independently to press against theiixed Vcontact member. i Y.

, Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating,

in dotted lines, theuposition assumed by agroup'of laminaeivhen being'fi'ormed, and,V

injfull lines, the position assumed by these sure.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to F ig. 1, illustrating a group of laminte similar to that shown by the-ull-line position in Fig. 1,-

Fig.l 3 is a side vieu7 offa 'contactA brush made according to my invention.

In the manufacture ot' the preferred einbodiment of my'invention, r I take a group' 17, of any Suitable conducting metal,'such as coppenand subject them to pressure. p

The pressure -Whichis directed by suitable CONTACT :BRUSH iiivniiiiiriion or iv'iiifRiivesAi/in then placed? outside ot lamina 17. be .understood that variations in lthe inter` tools, is continued;funtiltlie; end

Y Y position is shownlbydottedflines L r my invention is gene':ally,

Upon the release-ofpressure, kthe la'ininae ten to spread; slightly y and assume atl'ie: re ec tive iullj-line positions!fofglfig. '1.- i

It ivill d:seen however.'v tliatdlieeiids o teach.'laniria havenfesuined affixed f or yset;i shape which is at 'least' a' riglitfangle tol the inainbodyportion, A 4

Points and 22 ture ofthe innerlaminafl isfconsiderably relative positions with respect tofaxes'21 andes. s i In Fig.

ingr-are v bent to approximately `45ito 'if f' f 65H r-otfililig. -1 .indie-ate h about which' ,the .endV portions are leent.y Ais -to` be observed that the radius .ci 'cu'rva..

2, -I have" shownv a group .of

laminae B, similar to the groupgiitV of vFig.

1, which ar-eshaded in order to distingifiish from ltli'oseot groupy A.v These groups of lamin Vare subjected to the saine bending treatn'i'eiit andare similar in every detail. Y It is to be'understo'od that I lain notlimite'dtothe use of a pair offvgroupsof laminare,-

but I may employ asr'niany 'groups as are made necessary bythe size otthe finishedcontact brush. In the case 'of very large brushes, certain of the] groups may be initially bent on aslightly largerffforin; ythan scribed.' i

others, for reasons hereinafter to be de.

Y i :.90v After therequired numberoff J,f {roups of laminas, ri,V B, have 'been prepared, I take laininal from group A, and then fit laminee 2 and 4,' from group B, on the outside oit laminaA 7. I then place laminae 3 Vand 5, from group A, outside lamina 2. I k'continue this` alternate arrangement the laminae iomtlie tivo groups Ain accordance with their .radiiof curvatureuntillamina i group N A is` reached.` Lamina 1S, et group B, vis tis to leaving ol' the various l'aniinai'iiiayfbe made shovvii is by Way of illustration'only. y

rihe assembled lainiiiaeare then fastened lWithin thescope ort this invention, as thatfll together by any suitablel means, such as rivets '21, whichv mayalso serve to` attach l the Contact -brush tov e` supporting member i 'ze '25. Theface of the brush VV'is then ytrimmed along theline ofFig.

A Contact brush made in accordance with' .this invention does not fray open at the Contact facewhen its breker is open because of the inherent set in veach lamina, und, es the leminae are assembled in relationto 'their By this construction I secure un adequate Contact pressure Withe very small brush deiieetion'.'

` My-'inventon is not `limited to the pur- Yticular structures or elements'illustrated. us' it may be .variously modified Wit-hout departing from. the -spirit and scope et the inven-rv tioIi,` es set forth in the appended claims.

YIelaiines my invention .L-The method of melting Vun eleetrical' Contact 'brush which Consists 1n separa-Lely bending aplurality of groups ot laminas. interleaving ylunnnee from di 'erent groups together. H

rlfhe method of making.sngelectrical Contact brush which consists in seperatelybending the yends oit' a plurality olgroups ot .lain/inte. interleaving` theyk lumine from diiferent groups und then securing' the zissembled `lzuninze together.

8. 'A Contact brush comprising ai plurelity .et'superimposed leniinee, certuin of Vsaid luminee possessing' un inherent ten lei1cyto crowd the adjacent inner hummer of `groups ot laminas about :1l mane el,`fesil` rlflie vmethod of constructing ztrroiitetii lfrusli which consists inli'ending d iiiluralitg,"

and. then securing the assembled VVlzuninee` seinliling the luminzehaviug the suinerediris,

oi curvature into lgroups, then, assembling' the several groups in superimposed relation in the order of the magnitude ef theiiyru'dii Y 5. The method of eOnStruCtiiig zin electri- I ot' curvature.

mi l Contact brush which comprises separately bending' the ends fotu plurality olf 'groups ot' Y,

minime.. und then interleaving-the lem' ae'ot n i i f 55.

dilierent groups.

subscribedmynuine thisV 9th day.' 0l October WALTERivLQAUs'rVI' i 

